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The "current" operator is that one whose parameters
are being displayed, and which is ready to be repro-
grammed. You can see which one is current (OP1
through OP6) by looking at the upper right hand
comer of the LCD display A"?" is illustrated here
because we don't know which operator is current
(that is not reset by the VOICE INIT function).
2. Press [OPERATOR SELECT] as many times as nec-
essary until the upper right corner of the display
shows OP1; if OP is already displayed, you can skip
this step.
NOTE At this point, operator 1, a carrier, is the only
operator contributing to the sound because the output
levels of operators 2 through 6 were set at zero when
you initialized the voice. If you were to play the key-
board with the display showing "OP2" or any other
operator you would be hearing only operator 1. If you
were to then go ahead and adjust the envelope of an
operator other than OP1, you would not hear any-
thing change because only operator 1 is contributing
to the sound in the DX7's current status. This step,
selecting the "current operator" to be OP1, is necessary
so that you will hear the results of the adjustments we
ask you to make in subsequent steps.
3. Lets just look at the 4 levels for this envelope without
changing them. The display should already show you
that Level 1 is set at 99 (the maximum), as illustrated
above. Press [EG LEVEL] 3 additional times, examin-
ing the display each time you press the button. Notice
that Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 are all set at 99, but
Level 4 is at zero. Normally Level 4 will be set to zero
because if it is at a non-zero point the sound will not
fall to silence when you release the key (A Level 4
value higher than zero is something like latching the
Voltage Controlled Amplifier (VCA) open in a conven-
tional synthesizer.)
ALG1 111111 OP1
EG LEVELS =99
ALG1 111111 OP1
EG LEVELS =99
ALG1 111111 OP1
EG LEVEL 4 = 0
4. Lets look at the 4 envelope rates. Press the [EG
RATE] button, and the display will now show you
Rate 1. Press it 3 additional times to see the remain-
ing 3 rates. Both EG Rate and EG Level work like
this, in a continuous cycle through the 4 available
points.
And watch
the display
This envelope, with all maximum levels (except Level
4) and maximum rates defines a "square" envelope
that turns on to maximum level the instant you press
a key and turns off completely the instant you release
the key If you could see the envelope, it would look
like this:
This is what the "initialized" envelope would look like if
you could see it. You can hear it, though.
Actually, since L1 and L2 and L3 are the same, R2
and R3 should be set to 99 here to avoid anomalies.
This rate does not affect the "square" envelope;
because the level does not have to change in this part
of the envelope, the rate of change is inconsequential.
R1 (where the sound first builds to L1) and R4 (where
the sound falls to L4 ) do have an effect, as we are
about to demonstrate.
Experimenting with the EG
Now lets alter the initial envelope to cause the volume
to gradually work up to the maximum (the L1/L2/L3
level), and then gradually reduce to zero (the L4 level)
1. Press EG RATE as many times as required so the
display shows Rate 1 (it should be just once if you
followed the previous instructions to the letter.) Then
move the [DATA ENTRY] slider until the rate
changes from 99 to 25, stopping several times to play
the same note so you can hear the changes that recur
at slower and slower rates.
You may find it easier to press the [<] and/or [>]
buttons to precisely set the rate after using the [DATA
ENTRY] slider to get close to 25. When you're done
experimenting with Rate 1, leave it set at 25.
NOTE The slower the rate, the longer it takes for the
note to build to the maximum level. You can experi-
ment with rates below 25, but you 'll have to wait a
long time for each note to develop. \Vhen Rate 1 is 0
and Level 1 is 99, the sound will take about 40 sec-
onds to reach maximum intensity;
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